LONDON, March 15 (Reuters) - European product prices were mixed on Monday, with gasoline easing as export opportunities to the United States faded, while gas oil futures LGOc1 flipped into backwardation as inventories fell. Traders said low availability of heating oil is supporting middle distillates, with the recent bout of cold weather in Europe combining with refinery turnarounds to tighten the market. GASOLINE AND NAPHTHA * Barges of benchmark Eurobob gasoline traded at $760 a tonne fob ARA, compared with $771 at Friday's close. * The fall was slightly sharper than a drop in crude oil prices and Eurobob's crack to dated Brent BFO- eased to about $12.00 a barrel from $12.50 at the close, which was the highest since August last year. * Barge gasoline swaps were $776.60 a tonne for April and $769.60 for May. * The arbitrage swaps were $3.80 for April, suggesting the spot export opportunity for the month would become limited, while it was open for most of the trading month of April. * "The fundamentals for gasoline in the United States are not constructive," Societe Generale analyst Michael Wittner said. " Stocks are above five-year highs, demand is at five-year lows, and days' cover is also above five-year highs." * ICE Brent crude futures were 0.4 percent lower at $79.05 a barrel by 1118 GMT. * New York RBOB gasoline futures RBc1 were little changed, or 0.04 percent lower, at $2.2541 a gallon, while U.S. crude futures were 0.4 percent lower at $89.91 a barrel. MIDDLE DISTILLATES * Barges of gas oil with 0.1 percent rose to between minus $2 a tonne and flat to ICE gas oil futures, compared with discounts of $2.50/$4 at the end of the previous session. * Diesel barges were offered at April futures plus $12, up from $10 at the previous close. * April ICE gas oil futures LGOc1 fell $3.25 to $662.25 a tonne by 1153 GMT. * The April/May spread flipped into a narrow backwardation of 50 cents a tonne, the first time the market has been in backwardation outside of contract expiry days since November 2008. [ID:nLDE62E15T] * The prompt crack to Brent futures hit its highest level since April 2009, touching $10.30 a barrel in early trade before pulling back to $9.99. The crack was around $9.40 a barrel on Friday. * Traders said heavy European refinery maintenance work and cold weather has drawn down gas oil stocks. * "Distillate stocks are high but it's generally jet fuel and diesel," one trader said. "Heating oil stocks are relatively low." * Gas oil stocks in independent storage at the ARA hub fell by 6,000 tonnes last week to 2.34 million tonnes, Dutch oil analyst Pieter Kulsen said on Thursday. [ARA/] FUEL OIL * High sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) barges with 3.5 percent sulphur were discussed at $434-$440 a tonne fob ARA, steady from Friday. * The crack rose to minus $8.90 a barrel. (Reporting by David Sheppard and Ikuko Kurahone; Editing by Amanda Cooper)

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